East Park

East Park consists of 35 acres located between US-31 and Little Traverse Bay on the eastern side of the Bay Harbor Development. It is one of the most widely used and best known features of the Township. This park serves as a day-use park providing recreation activities including hiking, bicycling, picnicking, wildlife viewing, and cross-country skiing. The road into the park is seasonally maintained, and gated closed during the winter, but pedestrian access is still permitted.

The layout of East Park is divided into two tiers, as the site topography features an embankment down to Little Traverse Bay with a vertical drop of about 40 feet. The upper level park facilities include an accessible picnic pavilion with seating for approximately 50-60 people and grills, seasonal restroom facilities, parking, a playground area, and a paved handicap accessible trail connecting the parking area to an observation deck/gazebo (yellow on map). A wood chip trail also meanders through the hardwood forest (green on map). The lower tier offers a smaller parking area and a crushed stone walkway leading east along the waterfront.

East Park also currently serves as a trail-head for the Little Traverse Wheelway, a non-motorized trail that extends over 26 miles from Charlevoix to Harbor Springs. 

To reserve the East Park Pavilion for an event please complete the online Reservation Form.

Find a printer friendly East Park map and info sheet here.